


Pluck

by jj_minerva



Category: AJ Raffles - Hornung
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-01
Updated: 2004-03-01
Packaged: 2017-10-02 11:19:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jj_minerva/pseuds/jj_minerva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bunny finds there is more to his partnership with Raffles than he realised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pluck

PLUCK

 

By Minerva

 

From the very beginning I was his man. Raffles was an enigma, even when I first knew him in our school days. I admired him, idolised him, followed him as surely as the moon follows the sun. The attraction I felt was far more than hero worship although in my innocence I could not give it any other name.  When he finally left, I grieved.

 

So it was not strange that I found myself drawn to him once more that fateful night so many years ago when I was at my lowest ebb. A game of cards had never held more import. Was it fate that threw us together again or some cosmic design; a performance already written to which we but provided the players?

 

Whatever the reason, I found myself returning to his rooms at the Albany and pouring out my pitiful story. I was half crazed at the time, my actions speak for themselves. Raffles was right when he said it is a desperate man who contemplates suicide one minute and a life of crime the next. At least he was honest with me. He said he had his vices and I was soon to find it true. But by then I had once again fallen under his spell.

 

Was it his masterful personality that I found so irresistible? His classic good looks, his charm, his sophistication? I wondered that he was still single; a man of his standing would be much sort after by women.  Perhaps what drew me was simply that he listened to me in my darkest hour and offered me a hand as I was sinking into the mire.

 

That Raffles shared my fate of destitution bound me even tighter to him. I swore I would do anything in the world for him if only he wouldn't give my plight away. Those words surprised even him and I know now that was the moment that his thoughts turned to other matters, as he stood there silently, considering me with his impelling blue eyes.  I was lost.

 

How do you weight one crime against another? That’s what he led me to that night, slowly and irrevocably; a life of crime. Some would say I was immoral; perhaps they are right. But there was a morality to what we did. Raffles had his own rules. I think he saw himself as a modern day Robin Hood; robbing the rich to give to the poor. And we were the poor.  As for the other? Tell me how could an act that is done in the name of love be considered a crime?

 

Was I an innocent led astray? By the time were arrived back at his rooms, my eyes had been opened to the true extent to which I was now involved.  I protested; my last thread of morality finally giving voice. And Raffles was willing to let me go. Even then I could have walked away, but the touch of his hands on my shoulders and light gleaming in his eyes ignited something else in me; something far stronger that defied all reason.

 

Some men might call it lust; I prefer to name it love.

 

So I swore to him that I was his.

 

"When you want me, I'm your man."

 

I meant it in its simplest terms; that I would help him in any future matters. I saw the gleam in his eye again and knew that Raffles would hold me to my word.

 

It was not until the following afternoon, when we had settled my account at my bank that I was to learn the full extent of my pact with Raffles. We were back at the Albany, lounging in his rooms, smoking and drinking and although it was still a little early. I'd been reminiscing about our school days, cataloguing his treasured possessions that I well remembered dusting, touching each one lovingly where they sat in the chaos of his oaken bookcase. Raffles came to stand beside me, watching me caress the faded cover of a book.

 

"I often wondered what you did at night Raffles, when you used to sneak out? Where did you go in such a disguise?"

 

"Ah Bunny, that is a story for another time. Enough talking."

 

I looked at him questioningly. Very slowly he raised one finger and brushed it across my lips. I had been his fag at school, but other than a fond ruffle of my hair or a pat on my shoulder, Raffles had always kept his hands to himself. Even so, I was not blind to what transpired between other boys. Kisses and touches were whispered and giggled about but seldom taken seriously.  I knew enough not to mistake Raffles' gesture.  He waited for my reaction, as he had done so many times the night before.

 

I did not know how to respond. It was not that I did not want to; I had contemplated kissing him while we were still at school. My problem now was that I lacked all knowledge of how to proceed. So I smiled at him hoping to show him I was not immune to his attractions. He closed the gap between us quickly, his lips crushing mine in a ferocious kiss. I stumbled backwards against the book case, only to find his strong arms holding me. And still the kiss went on, his lips and tongue laying siege to my mouth so that I had no option but to surrender to the invasion.  I thought my legs would buckle. Never had I experienced such confusion. My mind was screaming in shock and disbelief even as my traitorous body was responding in pleasure.

 

I tried to push him away, but gave up and melted into his embrace, allowing myself to be lowered to the floor.

 

"That's it Bunny. Knew you'd come around, my boy."  He looked down at me, his pale complexion now flushed and glowing. Perhaps he saw the uncertainty in my eyes then, for he moved back, giving me space. "Did you mean it Bunny?  That you'd do anything for me?"

 

I guessed at what he alluded to, something that men did with each other, but it was all theoretical. I had no idea of  the actual practices. I was a virgin in every sense of the word, but I was not about to confess that detail to Raffles. So I nodded, not speaking for fear that my voice would give me away.

 

Raffles stood then, surprising me, and held out his hand. For one brief moment I thought he had changed his mind and was about to show me the door. Instead, he pulled me up and led me to his bedroom, turning out the lamp as he went and drawing closed the curtains.

 

I must have been trembling, for Raffles had to help me with my buttons as we divested our clothes. His hands were sure and steady as he led me to his bed, laid me down and reclined beside me. No words were spoken, but this time his kisses were gentle.

 

Years later I was to wonder if Raffles did all this to somehow bind me to him. As we lay naked, wrapped in each others arms, was he afraid even then that I would betray him? Did he seek to assure my continued support by showing me such pleasure that I blush even now when I recall the things he did?  Or was it the final test to see how far I was willing to go for him?  Surely there was no greater sacrifice of one friend for another.

 

He'd had other male lovers before me, of that much I was certain by the confident way he set about it. Had it been to this end that he had crept away from school at night, climbing down the rope while I waited at the top, ever faithful?  I have heard names for what we did that night, but none of them can relate the emotions that coupled the acts. I loved him; loved him as he wrapped his lips around my prick and sucked the essence from my body. My heart exploded, along with my seed and I called his name, sobbing in the darkness. He held me and I knew I was no longer alone.

 

I do not know if Raffles loved me in the same fashion that first night. Perhaps his love grew with time. We seldom spoke of our feelings in all the years we were together. It was simply something known and understood and accepted. Raffles would die for me and I for him.

 

But perhaps that first night it was a baser passion that drove him on. "Roll over for me, Bunny." They were the first words Raffles had spoken since we entered the bedroom. I complied, rolling onto my belly, still half dazed from Raffles attentions. I wanted to sleep and thought I might, until I felt his fingers probing me with much the same skill and efficiency they had displayed when cutting out the lock the night before. He used the same rock oil.

 

I gasped and stiffened at the intrusion and Raffles patted my arse as one would when settling a nervous horse or hound. "Are you up for this?" he asked, fingers still insinuating their way into my fundament. For a moment I considered refusing but Raffles had done so much for me. Could I do any less for him?

 

"Of course," I replied, surprised by how steady my voice sounded. I held my breath, trying not to flinch. The invasion was becoming painful.

 

"Now hold still, Bunny, my boy," Raffles whispered close to my ear. "It won't hurt but for a moment."

 

He lied. It hurt for far longer, but I did not tell him that.  I tried to concentrate on his breath, sharp and ragged in my ear while I wondered about his previous partners. What had become of them? Where were they now? Did he love them?

 

Raffles came with a gasping moan, like a man dying and he slumped upon my back, a dead weight. I lay there until I became concerned and tried to wriggle out from underneath him.

 

"All right Bunny?" he asked sleepily.

 

"Yes. But you're heavy." He rolled over obligingly and I was left to wonder what I was supposed to do. It must be quite late. I sat up and swung my legs out of the bed.

 

"I suppose I should return home. You must be tired after last night's caper."

 

Raffles sat up, kissed my shoulder and pulled me back down beside him. "Why don't you sleep here? We were both up all night, with no sleep today and we're both buggered. Well, you are at least." He grinned at me, a strand of his dark hair curling into his eyes making him look like a school boy again.

 

I laughed. "Yes, I am at that. Well and truly buggered, now."

 

I settled down beside him in comfortable silence thinking over all that had transpired this last twenty four hours. My whole world had been shaken upside down and nothing would ever be the same yet strangely enough things had never felt so right. I sighed deeply and moved a little closer into Raffles back. He was still awake, undoubtedly pondering the evening's events as I had been doing.

 

"You know Bunny, I never knew you had such pluck," he said, rolling to face me again.

 

"There's a lot you don't know about me Raffles." I replied.

 

"So it would seem," he whispered, his breath warm in my face. "And I am going to have such fun finding out."

 

"_We_ are going to have such fun, Raffles," I corrected. "_We_ are going to have such fun."

 

March 2004

 


End file.
